ZThree,Z3,Joe Zente,The Alternative Board,TAB,Derek Jeter,role model,leadership,perserverance

Last week, an amazing career came to an end. Derek Jeter, one of the premier players in the history of baseball, played his final game in Yankee Stadium. He is 40 years old.

The storybook game ended a storybook career. If you are one of the few people who hasn’t heard about Derek Jeter or his final game, you can find highlights all over YouTube or learn anything you’d like in any one of thousands of Google links.

You can also learn about Derek in Fortune Magazine. Earlier this year, Fortune published its list of the World’s Best Leaders. Derek Jeter ranked number 11, right there next to Pope Francis, Warren Buffett, the Dalai Lama, and Jeff Bezos. One may ask, “how can a baseball player earn such an honor?” For anyone who has watched Derek over the years, the answer is obvious.

I’ve always been a baseball fan, but this article is not about baseball. It is about the lessons we can all learn from Derek Jeter. It is about lessons of leadership, integrity, perseverance, discipline, respect, and achievement. Lessons of Walking the Talk. Lessons of Greatness. Derek is certainly a skilled athlete, but his greatness far exceeded his skill in baseball. In short, Derek Jeter is a winner. While he has always been an outstanding individual performer, his leadership has resulted in an unmatched level of team success.

Derek Jeter played for the Yankees, the most prolific team in the history of sports. His career spanned 20 years, playing (and working) in New York City, the media capital of the world. Derek played in an era when steroid-use ran rampant, where a huge percentage of his competitors were juiced up, gaining unfair advantages in speed and strength.

His career unfolded in a pressure-packed fishbowl during the age of the Internet, smartphones, 24-hour news cycles, and social media. Derek Jeter was under a microscope each and every day for two full decades, competing against the most skilled opponents in the world. In an era filled with controversy, substance abuse, free-agency, scandal, media hype, social media, and paparazzi, Derek rose above it all and simply, humbly did his job. 

Most players, even highly talented ones, are unable to survive the pressures and temptations of playing in New York City. Legions of “stars” have flamed out under the Big Apple’s hot lights. If you think Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and a continuous barrage of emails, and texts distract you from completing your important work, consider the discipline and focus required to perform under the continuous scrutiny and non-stop distractions of being a superstar in NYC.

Many have described Derek’s accomplishments as miraculous. I disagree. I believe his accomplishments are primarily formulaic. Like many great over-achievers, Derek was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time during certain times in his career, but he also created his own luck by doing the right things at all times. 

In many of his years with the Yankees, Derek was not the most skilled or the “best” player on the team. He rarely had the highest batting average and never had the most home runs. He was never the biggest or the strongest, and usually not the fastest. However, he was always considered the undisputed leader of the team. Derek was elected Yankee Team Captain at the early age of 29.  Most of his competitors consider him the Captain of Baseball. Leadership oozed from this man.

Derek always led by example. He expected greatness of himself and others, treated everyone with respect, and commanded respect in return. His practice routines, discipline, humility, work ethic, and pursuit of continuous improvement are legendary.  He relished accountability, especially for himself. As a consequence, everyone on his team became a better player. A rising tide floats all boats. His teammates followed him with awe.

Derek’s beliefs, behavior, and mindset, and the remarkable, continuous series of achievements that followed, serve as a model for success in any pursuit. Derek Jeter was the consummate professional. As a professional, he did his job, each and every day. 

Teammates who had a chance to experience Derek Jeter felt fortunate to play on his team.  Competitors felt fortunate to play against him. Fans, writers, and others who witnessed Derek’s consistency and leadership admired him.

Few people achieve their dream. Derek Jeter did. From a very young age, he wanted to do one thing, to play for the Yankees. He did what he loved, and people loved him for it. His desire, commitment, responsibility and outlook were unprecedented. 

Throughout his two-decade career, Derek was not perfect. He failed many times and overcame many injuries and obstacles, but his attitude never wavered.  No matter the setback, he always elected to quickly jump back on the horse to execute his routines and do his job, day after day. And his teammates followed.

As a fan of baseball and student of human behavior and achievement, I feel very fortunate to have witnessed Derek Jeter’s career. He has been a model of consistency, humility, discipline, grace, and performance, demonstrating daily on the world stage how to lead by example, inspire others, and win.

Many articles, and several books, have been written about Derek Jeter. Now that his baseball career has concluded in a spectacular crescendo of glory, I’m sure many more will follow. Unlike 99.9% of major league ball players, Derek Jeter will be elected immediately into the Hall of Fame on his very first ballot election, but his greatness transcends his statistics.  

Derek is finished playing baseball, but I believe his career is just getting started. He does not enoy publicity and does not relish the spotlight, but I think we’ll be hearing tons more about his future accomplishments. Derek Jeter is not only a great player; he is a great man and a great leader.

Every professional, leader, CEO, salesperson, entrepreneur, civic leader, man, woman, and child can learn lessons in leadership, success, and winning by studying Derek Jeter’s career. He is an excellent role model for anyone. Stay tuned and soak it in.

Joe 

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2014.   All Rights Reserved.

As a business owner, have you ever wondered why your employees don’t perform better?

Have you ever thought to yourself: “If our salespeople would just knock on twice as many doors or make the effort to visit with twice as many prospects, they’d probably double our sales.” A very basic assertion. You are obviously correct.
Furthermore, your salespeople also know you are correct.

For some reason, the increased activity just doesn’t happen.
It didn’t happen this year and didn’t happen last year. And for the majority of companies, it won’t happen next year, either. How can this be????

There is a perfectly good reason.

The reason is that salespeople (in fact, all people) behave the way they behave is because they choose to behave that way.

The distance between knowing and doing is nowhere greater than in the domain of sales.

This principle does not only apply to salespeople. It also applies to Sales Managers and to Owners. And change always starts at the top. So if you are serious about creating consistent growth in your sales growth and profits, I would suggest that you first take inventory of your Personal Comfort Zone.

Your salespeople enjoy living in their comfort zone; that happy place that is safe, warm, and cozy. For most salespeople, they feel great and comfortable when they are:

Talking about themselves and their company
Giving presentations
Searching the Internet
Sending emails
Demonstrating
Preparing proposals (often multiple times)
Entertaining
Asking leading questions and softball questions
Engaged in small talk
Calling hot, pre-qualified leads
Developing relationships with peers
Listening selectively
Name dropping
Managing crises
Avoiding accountability

All of the above activities lie squarely inside most salespeople’s comfort zone. Unfortunately, none of these activities allow a salesperson to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Few, if any, provide you and your company with any advantage, even when competing with a non-human, web-based purchase. Furthermore, just about all of these activities will actually cost precious margin dollars (e.g.: wasted time, personnel costs, resources, design, engineering…)

Conversely, the activities that lie outside of most salespeople’s comfort zone are the ones that will produce results. The activities most salespeople avoid lead to differentiation, consistent sales growth, increased market share, and higher profit. They include:

More prospecting
Asking tough questions
Using an effective selling system and success recipe
Calling key targets, including cold and warm leads
Active, empathetic listening
Developing relationships with Decision Makers and Key Partners
Time & event management
An unconditional commitment to continuous improvement
Uncovering true buying motives
Seeking accountability

How does your sales team measure up in these areas?

You should not expect a salesperson to leave their comfort zone unless you go first. Maximizing performance requires efficient execution and discipline, so all great performers (including great salespeople) seek an accountability partner to keep them focused and on-task. Effective sales management, including accountability, is an absolute game-changer when it comes to growing market share and profitability.

Unfortunately, most companies are completely ineffective in the area of sales management. Like salespeople, sales managers (and owners) also choose to play inside their own comfort zones.

A company culture that attracts and nurtures employees who live inside their comfort zones is one that is about to get stomped.

Great sales teams are not great because of intelligence or strategy. They are not great because of the knowledge they’ve accumulated or because of any special secrets.

They are great because their people, from top to bottom, do the things that mediocre sales teams do not. They are great because they choose to live outside their comfort zones.

So if you want your team to blow away its sales goals in 2014, make a simple declaration. Effective immediately, declare that only over-achievers will be tolerated on your sales team and that over-achievement requires each team member to make a unconditional commitment to live outside of their comfort zone. Challenge everyone to encourage their teammates to love this new reality. Then hold everyone accountable to your declaration.

GO FIRST. Walk Your Talk. Change starts at the top and begins with YOU.

Best wishes for an amazing 2014 and beyond!

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2013.   All Rights Reserved.

Bookmark the CEO Success Blog!

self-employed,business owner,joe zente,z3,zthree,entrepreneur,CEO,tab,tab austin,the alternative board

There are only two ways to (legally) earn a living:

• You can be EMPLOYED

• You can be an ENTREPRENEUR

There are two types of entrepreneurs:

• The SELF-EMPLOYED

• The BUSINESS OWNER

I have worked closely with many hundreds of entrepreneurs, and I have interviewed thousands of CEOs and Presidents.  When we first meet and I ask them what they do, most tell me they own a business.  However, most of them do NOT own a business.  They are self-employed:

Do you really own your business?

Which type of entrepreneur are you?                                                                       

The more your business needs you, the less your business is worth.

I understand that some entrepreneurs do CHOOSE to be self employed. Some people absolutely love to develop software, prepare wonderful meals, or design buildings. They start their business not to build value or lead, but so they can do work they love to do.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs start their businesses hoping to become Business Owners, yet never achieve their dream.  I love entrepreneurs, so this saddens me.

I founded my company 15 years ago to help entrepreneurs find personal FREEDOM.  Freedom Through Results, Results Through Responsibility™_.

Achieving Entrepreneurial Freedom and transforming from being Self-Employed to being a Business Owner certainly does not happen overnight.  Be that as it may, the transformation is entirely formulaic.

Business owners come in many different shape and sizes.  They vary dramatically with regard to levels of intelligence, skill, education, technical competency, leadership ability, etc, etc. etc.

However, they all share one trait.  All entrepreneurs that propel beyond being self -employed into the ranks of true business ownership and the freedom that accompanies it possess an Unconditional
Commitment.

The good news is that unconditional commitment is a choice.

The rest is up to you.

Copyright ©   Joe Zente  2013.   All Rights Reserved.

Bookmark the CEO Success Blog!

sales,differentiation,price,salespeople,buyers,pain,questions,Joe Zente,z3,zthree,tab austin

5000 senior executive B2B decision makers were recently asked: “When faced with a buying decision, what makes the final difference in your purchase selection?”

Paying close attention to the results of this survey can make a enormous impact in your top and bottom lines, so here goes…:

• 19% of respondents said their purchase decision was based upon Company Brand or Reputation.

• Another 19% said it was based upon their perception of Product, Service or Quality.

• Contrary to popular belief (and to the #1 excuse you probably hear from your salespeople and sales manager), only 9% said that Price was the deciding factor.

• Interestingly, 53% of surveyed senior executives said that the Field Sales Interaction was the #1 factor in their decision.

In other words, the interaction that buyers are having with your salespeople have a greater effect on buying decisions than all other factors combined.

Surveyed buyers also felt that only 14% of conversations with salespeople had any significant or commercial impact.  This means that salespeople are perceived to be flapping their gums in the vast majority of their conversations, creating ZERO value or differentiation 86% of the time.  Burning up valuable time in this way is a huge waste and is no way to win points with busy decision makers.

Additional research indicates that the vast majority of all value and differentiation is not perceived as a result of comparisons, presentations, benefit statements, testimonials and demos, but instead from personal, emotional connections, effective facilitated dialogue, pain discovery and good questioning.

If you own a business or run a sales organization, these statistics and data should inspire many questions, including but not limited to…:

• Am I spending my money and resources wisely and proportionately?

• How do MY salespeople really stack up compared to our competitors?

• How effective are they at messaging, listening, questioning?

• Can my sales team really take me where I want to go?

• Am I selecting the right salespeople who are capable of differentiating?

• Is my sales training, development and management program effective?

Answering these questions and addressing them effectively can be the difference between blowing your competitors out of the water, or being left in their dust.

Best wishes for a spectacular 2013 and beyond!

Copyright © Joe Zente 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Well, the election is finally behind us.  Some people are euphoric, others are pissed.   Loads are fearful.   Some are simply clueless.

And many are confused.

Two things that have changed little since Tuesday is the intensity of emotions and the volume of diverse (and often misleading) opinions.  Neither of these will help much in running a successful business.

As business owners, there are many questions that lie before us.  The one I’m hearing the most since Election Day is:

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Here are a few suggestions:

• Get the FACTS:  Accept very little of what you hear.   Stay plugged in and validate everything.
• Focus upon OPPORTUNITIES:  The greatest opportunities are often created by virtue of confusion, uncertainty, turmoil and pain.  In other words, this environment is target rich for those who focus upon the best ways to not only survive, but to also take advantage of the current situation.
• Be Proactive.
• Control your emotions.
• Take a deep breath:  Relax and have fun.  Things are rarely as good or as bad as they may appear.
• Beware of “experts”.  Instead, surround yourself with Trusted advisors.
• Make a Plan:  ALL stress results from uncertainty.  There is ZERO benefit or virtue in worrying.   The best CEOs in the world understand that running a business requires a clear understanding that every business and economic climate is fraught with uncertainty, so they develop the key skill of dealing with ambiguity.

Independent of the political and economic climate, the fundamentals of business and leadership always prevail.  So follow these simple steps and enjoy your joyful prosperity in 2013.

Copyright © Joe Zente 2012. All Rights Reserved.